The lives of George and Amarilla Barclay

Daniel & Elizabeth’s Letter to Home!

My Aunt Miriam had a letter in her possession which was in rather rough condition. As I read this letter I realized that it was written by my great great grandmother Elizabeth (Keller) Spracklin. I then turned it over and to my surprise there was another letter written by Daniel D. Spracklin to home.

I do not know if this letter was ever sent and how it got into my Aunt’s possession? I have very few personal items from my family so this was amazing to hold in my hands.

Please note that for safe keeping the letter was separated gently. It was actually 2 pages connected together. There are two letters and they filled up both sides of the paper. On one side was a letter from Daniel and then on the other side was a letter from Elizabeth.

I share these letters here because they are so precious and need to be seen by others who are members of the Spracklin and Keller families.

Someone put tape in the center to hold it together. This is a very bad thing to do. Cellophane tape is corrosive. This has obscured and made it difficult to figure out what was written where the tape covers. Several cousins have tried to help interpret the letters.

In transcribing the letter I tried to follow their use of English and their spelling. The following is the best effort of myself and several cousins’ who I sent the letter to. Scroll below for a copy of the actual letters.

First is Elizabeth’s letter:

January the 7: Dear Sister I take my pen in hand won (se) more tu let you now that we are all well tu day and du hope these few lines may find you tugging the same blaessing you would then that I was well if you guest seen what I had dun tu day I have washed and chicend and I scronbd and backed I hav good helth this winter we had a vary pleasnt winter her we have (covered by tape and cannot read) ___________________________of Caroline getting married yet I hope She has got a compain that they can liv hapy I wish them good luck and mutch happiness now Ammarila burrow for the bard I wonder in my giserd if you are ajonta futufabar and cum out tu Iowa or will you bee like the rest Can’t beeve many yet or will you squatt down on daddy back plase I am a bout tu think that you are all agon to stay there tu get har and I would like tu be thare wih you and hav a good visit witch snow I could if I was thre I would like tu curn home with my little Henrey and Mary and see you all and cum back home again tu Iowa I would mutch rnther liv in Iowa then in Ohio but I would like tu hav you all cum out here and live I know that you could make alivin easer then you can thare Mary can run and play out adores with Henry they hav grate times She can say mama and build and pah a good many things Pare & Son _____she looks like vina little girl (tape has stained the page and can’t read the works) ______________________________bin inviting I hav knit mine lace of ____for tu Sell igot a half a dolar a pare I have got dun purty nice a knity and then ma I peese ____ quiltg if I can I must beve sum came for ___tu rite sum I wish you would rite oftener and tell mother tu rite and Caroline I Should like tu here a word from hur giv my lov tu all my brotherss and Sisters and pap and mother and Susn your self tell Peter that I an see him ___ but not ___ He could not have sent me eny thing that I like tu see so well E.S A E.

Daniel’s letter:

January 18, 1858: Good morning it is a rany morning We are all well and I hope that you are all well Well paw I reckon that you are most redy to sell out and leave them Clay nobs and Come whare land is rich and easy tended it and more than a bout half the work to tend a crot here that it is their and more sure Just come out here and see for your self and not always set to home and study about it times is dull here at present evry thind is low that the farmer has to sel for their not mutch money ___ it been failed last year (tape has been added and it has made it difficult to read the lines) __________________________________________________________________then to help it on money went down so that it makes money maters purty Clost but times is a mending a liddle we have had the best winter weather that I ever saw – turn over to the other side.

Well Peter ireckon you have a good crop this year and are a getting ritch so fast that you hurt me to think of land or my th___ a but coming to see us ______ the and com on iron hos.

This winter it has bin dry and stil and cumfer table for a bout a six weeks Well Peter you talk a bout going to Mishigan well if I nowed what I new now and had a farm in Mishigan or any other timber and had to go and blear it up or had my Chois to go to a (pracr) cuntry with out eny thing I would to the prar cuntry and I firmley be lieve that I would have an improved farm in the firesir first noro that is just good sens and you would think (tape has been put on this letter and it has obscured the writing) ___ if you ______but ______ well _______________________get___________________tell Caroline ___with her and ________nan match say and give my love to all the folks and tell them to come out and se us no more room goodbye. D.D. Spracklin.

(There are some fancy swirls and marks indicating something was attached and on the left is written)

This is some of lury f hare Henery says he don’t wont’ enough tu send his ha___ of

The photocopy of the actual letter is in two parts. If you laid them out on a table they would be side-by-side and writing would have been on both sides. Click on the image and it will open into another window. To get back to this post click your back button.

Elizabeth's Letter 1858

Elizabeth continues 1858

Daniel Writes 1858

Daniel's continues 1858

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Source: Letter by Elizabeth and Daniel Spracklin dated January 1858. This letter was in the possession of their great grand-daughter Miriam McDonald but is now in the possession, as of 2008, of their great great grand-daughter and compiler of this blog.

Some comments:

Elizabeth wishes her sister Caroline happiness. Caroline married Joseph Van Houten in 1857. I visited the Van Houten graves in Ohio in August of 2011. I knew that they had migrated to Hardin County, Ohio so I made it a point to seek out their place of burial. They are buried in the Dunkirk Cemetery north of Kenton, Hardin County, Ohio. The Ammarilla mentioned in the letter is another of Elizabeth’s sisters.

Daniel refers to a Peter. I believe it is his older brother he is addressing and not his grandfather Peter who died in 1845?

If you are wondering where the locks of hair of the two children are, well, they were not attached to the letter and nowhere to be found in the papers that were given to me back in 2008 by a family member.

2 Responses

Have you figured out which sister Elizabeth wrote this letter to? It must not be Amarilla or Caroline since they are both mentioned in the letter. Their sister Lovina Lavinia Keller Helt was our gg grandmother so it would be interesting if
Elizabeth wrote this letter to her. C. Sisson

Dear C. Sisson: You know I really don’t know but it might be Lovina. Looking at their birth dates Harriet would have been little when Elizabeth left for Iowa with Daniel after 1853. Mary was also younger. The three sisters Lovina, Amarilla and Caroline would probably be closer to her. It is of course speculation but you may be correct? I wish there were more of these types of letters. It was such a joy to read the first time. Thanks for commenting.

Things to Ponder

The Header Photo is San Francisco in 1999 when I visited there for about the 3rd time. I did not realize that my Barclay family was so involved with this city. Unfortunately the colors have gotten muted.

KELLER DESCENDANTS of John and Mary (Delano) Keller. Over the past year of 2014 and currently in 2015 I have been posting about the descendants of John and Mary on my Solomon Goss of Fearing Twp., In Ohio blog (see the link below). The Surnames are: Keller, Delano, Spracklin, Evertts, Helt, Pearl, WIntermute, Barr, Van Houten, Carson, Shaffer, Kees, Lacy, Riblet and much more. Cousins are sharing on that Solomon Goss Blog. More information has come to light about these families.

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This blog was started on March 10, 2010.

Going to take the Scottish Class.

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